Philosophy, Science and Divine Action Philosophical Studies in Science and Religion Edited by F. LeRon Shults, University of Agder VOLUME 1 Philosophy, Science and Divine Action Edited by F. LeRon Shults, Nancey Murphy and Robert John Russell LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Philosophy, science, and divine action / edited by F. LeRon Shults, Nancey Murphy, and Robert John Russell. p. cm. — (Philosophical studies in science and religion, ISSN 1877-8542 ; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17787-1 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Providence and government of God—Christianity. 2. Philosophy and religion. 3. Christianity—Philosophy. 4. Philosophical theology. 5. Religion and science. I. Shults, F. LeRon. II. Murphy, Nancey C. III. Russell, Robert J. BT135.P45 2009 231.7—dc22 2009026641 ISSN 1877-8542 ISBN 978 90 04 17787 1 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS A Philosophical Introduction to “Divine Action” ........................ 1 F. LeRon Shults Chapter One Five Models of God and Evolution ..................... 17 Ian G. Barbour Chapter Two Th e Sound of Sheer Silence: How does God Communicate with Humanity? .......................................... 53 Arthur Peacocke Chapter Th ree Th e Metaphysics of Divine Action .................... 97 John Polkinghorne Chapter Four Describing God’s Action in the World in Light of Scientifi c Knowledge of Reality .................................. 111 William R. Stoeger Chapter Five Evaluating the Teleological Argument for Divine Action Wesley J. Wildman ......................................................................... 141 Chapter Six Constraint and Freedom in the Movement from Quantum Physics to Th eology .......................................... 191 Philip Clayton Chapter Seven Creation, Providence and Quantum Chance ..... 227 Th omas F. Tracy Chapter Eight Divine Action in the Natural Order: Buridan’s Ass and Schrödinger’s Cat .......................................... 263 Nancey Murphy Chapter Nine Ordinary and Extraordinary Divine Action: Th e Nexus of Interaction .............................................................. 305 George F.R. Ellis vi contents Chapter Ten Divine Action and Quantum Mechanics: A Fresh Assessment .......................................................................... 351 Robert John Russell Appendix: Overview of the CTNS/VO Series .............................. 405 About the Authors ............................................................................. 427 Index .................................................................................................... 429 A PHILOSOPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO “DIVINE ACTION” F. LeRon Shults Th e slow process of the European construction of the spheres of “sci- ence” and “religion” and the hardening of the boundaries between them during the 17th and 18th centuries created an intellectual milieu in which traditional Christian ways of interpreting “religious” experience in the world increasingly came into competition with new “scientifi c” explanations of the world. Th e idea of divine action was relatively unproblematic and generally presupposed within Western medieval cos- mology, with its philosophical mixture of Neo-platonic active principles and Aristotelian fi nal causes, both of which were ultimately grounded in the divine (the Form of the Good, the Unmoved Mover). However, as early modern science (especially classical mechanics) progressively fi lled the gaps in human knowledge about natural causes within a mechanical universe, the necessity (and plausibility) of appeal- ing to divine causation gradually diminished. Th e rise of deism and protest atheism in the 18th and 19th centuries was partially in response to the growing philosophical challenges to the coherence of the notion of divine action, and its alleged incompatibility with human freedom and natural evil. All of this is well known. But where does the discus- sion stand in light of contemporary science and philosophy? Philosophy, Science, and Divine Action In our late modern philosophical context might there be new ways to make sense of the claim that God can act in or interact with the world? Many scholars still fi nd such questions irrelevant (at best) and danger- ous (at worst). Some scientists believe that discourse about events in the natural world ought to exclude references to theological hypotheses. Some theologians believe that discourse about the supernatural events of divine revelation ought to be insulated from scientifi c hypotheses. Th e voices at these polar extremes are oft en the loudest. In the last few decades, however, a growing number of scholars have been exploring 2 f. leron shults new ways of constructing a discourse that teases the boundaries of these academic disciplines in order to pursue more holistic and integrated interpretations of human life in the cosmos. One exemplar of such interdisciplinary exploration that stands out for its scholarly breadth and depth is the Scientifi c Perspectives on Divine Action (SPDA) project, co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory (VO) and the Center for Th eology and Natural Science (CTNS). This multi- year collaboration involved over 50 authors meeting at fi ve international conferences, resulting in as many volumes: Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature (1993), Chaos and Complexity (1997), Evolution- ary and Molecular Biology (1998), Neuroscience and the Person (1999) and Quantum Mechanics (2001). Each volume carried the subtitle: “scientifi c perspectives on divine action.” Th e historical background, bibliographic details, unique interdisciplinary process and impact of the project and the series are described by Robert John Russell in the Appendix (below). Th is allows me to focus my attention in this Introduction on some general observations about the function(s) of philosophy within the SPDA project, which is the main rationale for showcasing these ten essays in the current book. Th e 91 essays in the fi ve volumes of the CTNS/VO series could be classified and analyzed in a number of ways. For example, we could group them theologically, exploring ways in which particular themes such as the doctrine of God, creation or anthropology are treated across the volumes. Or we could examine the role played by developments or debates within specifi c scientifi c disciplines, such as physics, evolutionary biology or neuroscience. Such mining of the resources within these volumes has already begun in the capstone volume to the project, Scientifi c Perspectives on Divine Action: 20 Years of Challenge and Progress (CTNS/VO, 2008). Our task here, however, is to provide a more general overview of the major philosophical themes and developments that played a more or less explicit role in the SPDA project. Th e volumes in the series off er analysis of specifi c philosophical concepts within both science and theology (such as space, time, matter and causality), as well as engage- ment with broader philosophical systems that aim to incorporate both science and theology, such as neo-Th omism and process philosophy. As Russell notes in his overview of the series in the capstone volume: “Th e overarching goal was to engage theology, philosophy, and natu- ral science in a process of constructive dialogue and creative mutual interaction.” He observes that 30 of the 91 essays in the series explicitly a philosophical introduction to “divine action” 3 treated philosophical issues. I think it is also fair to say that all of the essays involve philosophical engagement at least implicitly, insofar as they utilize philosophical categories and attempt to contribute to our understanding of topics that have a long history of philosophical disputation. Th e chapters in the current volume were selected for inclusion fi rst and foremost because they demonstrate the value of explicitly attending to the philosophical issues that shape the dialogue between science and Christian theology about the idea of divine action in the world. Below I will provide a brief preview of each of these chapters. First, however, I want to back up and briefl y outline three of the classical themes in philosophy (epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics) and three of the shift s in philosophical categories in late modernity (relation, kinesis, and diff erence), to which we can then make reference as we preview the chapters. Classical Philosophical Th emes and Late Modern Trajectories Many of the particular issues within the complex history of the develop- ment of philosophy that are relevant for understanding the role of the idea of divine action in the contemporary dialogue between scientists and Christian theologians are outlined and analyzed in the context of the ten essays that comprise this book.